Florida transfer TE could be looking to play closer to home

Posted by Kevin McGuire on June 22, 2014, 4:57 PM EST

All has not exactly gone to plan for tight end Colin Thompson. Two years at Florida have been littered with injuries, limiting him to appear in just three games combined between the last two football seasons since committing to play for the Gators. Now the Pennsylvania native could be looking to bounce back a little closer to home.

Thompson was a four-star recruit out of high school according to Rivals. He ended up choosing Florida over offers from Alabama, Michigan State, South Carolina, Stanford and many more. Among those offers for Thompson were offers from Penn State, Pittsburgh and Rutgers. Vanderbilt, with James Franklin as head coach at the time, did not extend an offer according to Rivals.com.

At the time Thompson signed with Florida, Penn State had Bill O’Brien as head coach. O’Brien was often considered a master of using tight ends. How much Franklin continues that offensive mindset will be determined later on, but with the talent at the position it would make sense to think the tight ends will play a key role in the offense in 2014. With Penn State increasing the number of scholarships ahead of schedule, adding more talent when possible will be something Franklin and his staff will look forward to doing.

As for Florida, the Gators now loses two tight ends from last season (Kent Taylorleft the school for Kansas in December) but the Gators will welcomeJake McGee from Virginia. McGee was Virginia’s top offensive threat in the passing game last season and should be capable of stepping right in for Florida’s anemic offense.